July 8, 2017

G88: Rays 1, Red Sox 0

Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0  3  0
Rays    - 010 000 00x - 1  6  1
Rick Porcello (8-6-1-0-7, 111) pitched well, but the offense was nowhere to be seen. Boston managed only three hits against Alex Cobb (7.2-2-0-1-3, 111) and closer Alex Colome.

The only run of the afternoon came in the second inning. Steven Souza and Brad Miller started the inning with singles. A fielder's choice put runners on first and third with one out. Porcello hit Shane Peterson to load the bases. Jesus Sucre's sacrifice fly to center scored Souza.

Boston's baserunners in the first eight innings:
1st: Xander Bogaerts, infield single with two outs.

3rd: Mookie Betts, single with two outs.

7th: Mitch Moreland, safe on E4 with one out.

8th: Sandy Leon, walk with one out.
In the ninth inning, the Red Sox had took their best shot. Colome walked Bogaerts with one out. Mitch Moreland doubled to deep right, with Bogaerts stopping at third. Deven Marrero ran for Moreland. Hanley Ramirez looked at a ball, then swung and missed three straight pitches. Andrew Benintendi was intentionally walked. Chris Young took a strike, two balls, and another strike before popping to shortstop.

After the game John Farrell explained why he stayed with Young and did not use Jackie Bradley (.366 over his last nine games, with a .981 OPS) as a pinch-hitter:
Right-handers are hitting nearly .300 against Colome on the year. Felt like we had the right guys in the order where we were. Chris has been so good with bases-loaded situations where he's remained patient, he's laid off some borderline pitches.
Before today's game, right-handed batters were hitting .292 against Colome (lefties, only .200). So that checks out. But as far as Young's production with the bases loaded, he had batted with the sacks full seven times this season before today. He was 0-for-5 with a walk and a sac fly. (Bradley's numbers: 1-for-2, with a walk.) ... And against Colome, both batters were 1-for-6, though Bradley had drawn two walks to Young's one.
Rick Porcello / Alex Cobb
Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Ramirez, DH
Benintendi, CF
Young, LF
Leon, C
Lin, 3B
Bogaerts is back in the lineup today, but when he woke up on Friday, his right hand (which was hit by a pitch in Thursday's game) was quite swollen. "I didn't expect it to feel this bad." He added:
It's still pretty sore. A lot of improvement from [Thursday]. Still, it's kind of tough to hold a bat and throw a ball. ... I'm lucky it didn't get me on the bone. It still hurts. Throwing-wise is pretty tough, to be honest.

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